When one thinks of De Tomaso, the first image to come to mind is the mid-engine Pantera exotic. However, Alejandro De Tomaso is no longer alive, and the company he founded has been resurrected by Gian Maria Rossignolo, who plans to build luxury sedan instead of a sporting machine.

That vision has been executed by Pininfarina, which has designed the Deauville luxury sedan as part of a larger deal in which the Italian design house sold off its Grugliasco assembly plant in Turin to the new De Tomaso, which will build this new model there.

"The Geneva debut of our design exercise for the reborn De Tomaso company has been achieved in record time." explained CEO Silvio Pietro Angori, who said it took a "little more than a year" after the industrial agreement was signed for the car to be styled by Pininfarina and then be produced by De Tomaso Automobili. "Thanks to the work of our design team we are sure that we can make an important contribution to a venture that brings new innovation and prestige to the Italian motor industry and to our region," added Angori

While the Deauville has a distinctive front grille with a hexagonal shape, the profile of the 5-door is similar in style to the BMW 5 Series Gran Turismo.

Unveiling the design is just the first step in the program. Few other details, such as engine and transmission sourcing, were not released. However, Pininfarina promised that the cars would be custom built.

According to Pininfarina, "the development of the Deauville hinges on exploiting the concept of quality products that are `Made in Italy,' reviving and refining in the present the characteristics of beauty and craftsmanship that are inherent in the Italian manufacturing heritage. All cars are custom-built and the assembly details are guaranteed by the manual skills of the De Tomaso specialist craftsmen."

The design house also said that it considered the heritage of such legendary De Tomaso models such as the Mangusta and Pantera in coming up with the design for the sedan. "The challenge was to imagine a completely new type of car without distorting such an important heritage, but also to firmly avoid turning it into an exercise in nostalgia." It's left to be seen if this vehicle will succeed in redefining the brand since it is far afield from Alejandro De Tomaso's original vision. Time will tell.